The truth about poverty: Most Americans are poor at some time

Poverty is most of us.<br /><br />That's the conclusion of Mark R. Rank, a professor at Washington University who studies poor people in America. His research shows that 54 percent of Americans fall into poverty -- or close to it -- for at least a year. People are poor because they lose their jobs, their hours are cut, their family splits up or they have a major health problem. <br /><br />For most of us, the question is not <i>whether</i> we will experience poverty, but <i>when</i>, writes Rank in the<a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/11/02/poverty-in-america-is-mainstream/?src=me&ref=general" rel="nofollow"> New York Times</a>.<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">The typical pattern is for an individual to experience poverty for a year or two, get above the poverty line for an extended period of time, and then perhaps encounter another spell at some later point. </blockquote>With so many people falling in and out of poverty, you might conclude America is not a rich country. That's true for the majority of us. <br /><br />Bruce Krastin looked at recent Social Security Administration data and found 47 percent of all workers earn poverty income, while the top one percent takes home 14 percent of all income in America. Krastin, writing in<a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/2013-11-04/americas-income-who-has-it" rel="nofollow"> zero hedge</a>, concludes<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">Something is clearly wrong when 47% of workers earn a poverty level income. Similarly, there is something wrong when 1% of workers earn 14% of all income...My conclusion is that America is not the ‘rich’ country that people think it is.</blockquote>Since there are currently<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/09/unemployed-job-opening_n_3568646.html" rel="nofollow"> three workers for every job opening</a>, you sure can't blame poor people for being lazy or not having enough education. In fact, Rank found a vast majority of the poor have worked extensively and will do so again.<br /><br />He also found:<br /><ul><li>The U.S. poverty rate is twice the European average because we do not provide universal health care, affordable child care, or reasonably priced low-income housing;</li><li>Two-thirds of those below the poverty line identified themselves as white;</li><li>Only about 10 percent of those in poverty live in extremely poor urban neighborhoods.</li></ul>So next time you hear people complaining about lazy freeloaders who need to get an education so they don't need handouts, throw a few of these facts at them. <br /><br />

inequality poverty The truth about poverty: Most Americans are poor at some time

Poverty is most of us. That's the conclusion of Mark R. Rank, a professor at Washington University who studies poor people in America. H...

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Top 4 reasons why minimum wage jobs lead to a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad life

The recent uproar over fast food and other minimum-wage workers has brought America’s attention to how much it sucks to be working at a minimum wage poverty job. Almost 3.6 million Americans are plugging away at dead-end, how-am-I-going to-pay-my-rent jobs – a figure that doesn’t count people making their state’s minimum wage (<a href="http://www.dol.gov/whd/minwage/america.htm">disqualifying almost half the US population</a>). It also doesn't count any worker who gets a 15-cent raise as thanks for putting up with terrible wages, uncertain working hours and ugly uniforms for 6 months.<br /><br />Here's why minimum wage jobs lead to a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad life:<br /><ol><li><b>You can’t afford anything, ever</b>. Contrary to whatever nonsense the restaurant industry is pushing out, three-quarters of minimum wage earners are adults – and <a href="http://www.bls.gov/cps/minwage2012tbls.htm#9">68.5 percent of those wage workers work full-time</a>. These terrible jobs aren’t used as fun money for carefree teens. Instead, most people try to pay for food and rent with their money -- but don’t pay enough to actually afford living. Even  a worker who works a full 40 hours every week with no vacations or sick leave brings home a yearly salary of $15,080, That's so little money <a href="http://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/tax-tips/IRS-Tax-Return/Does-Everyone-Need-to-File-an-Income-Tax-Return-/INF14399.html">the IRS doesn’t even require you to file if you provide for a two-person household</a>. That’s right. Minimum wage workers are so broke, the IRS doesn’t even want their money.</li><li><b>You can either live with relatives or in a car.</b> Every year, the National Low Income Housing Coalition reports that <a href="http://nlihc.org/oor/2013/">full-time minimum wage workers can’t afford a two-bedroom apartment in any state</a>. Even working 70 hours a week, <a href="http://nlihc.org/sites/default/files/oor/2013_OOR_Minimum_Wage_Map.pdf">a worker can only reasonably afford a two-bedroom apartment in four states and Puerto Rico</a>. Over half of the states require seven 12-hour days just to maintain affordable housing at minimum wage. Even split between two minimum wage workers at 45 hours a week, 17 states are too expensive to live in.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgREqLLiV8no5cbkXrhviZ_8ue0Tttz01At5r4lqOH6p65f5L1yT_rsdxcUZ3Z_2yikN0Guuxhj4Hg4VPYjZDyuN6eBvKZWH8OavUNKki_zVK6k3JR5dI1erA1cWrPVrvC08bKiD9A4tCET/s1600/funny-Barbie-McDonalds-minimum-wage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgREqLLiV8no5cbkXrhviZ_8ue0Tttz01At5r4lqOH6p65f5L1yT_rsdxcUZ3Z_2yikN0Guuxhj4Hg4VPYjZDyuN6eBvKZWH8OavUNKki_zVK6k3JR5dI1erA1cWrPVrvC08bKiD9A4tCET/s320/funny-Barbie-McDonalds-minimum-wage.jpg" width="173" /></a></div></li><li><b>Your healthcare plan consists of hoping you don’t get sick. </b>In 2012, a Gallup poll found <a href="http://www.gallup.com/poll/158417/poverty-comes-depression-illness.aspx?utm_source=alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=syndication&utm_content=morelink&utm_term=All%20Gallup%20Headlines">that low-income families are 20 percent more likely to not have health insurance or a doctor</a>. Almost 40 percent say they struggle to afford healthcare or medicine. No matter how little adults without children (three-quarters of minimum wage earners) make, they cannot enroll in federal Medicaid. The Affordable Care Act plans to expand Medicare in 2014 to people making $14,500 or less. Although this is a great step in expanding healthcare, it still means that people will have to start choosing between having enough money for rent or not enough money to qualify for Medicare. Making that choice is probably <a href="http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2012/10/30/americans-in-poverty-at-greater-risk-for-chronic-health-problems">why people living in poverty suffer from depression at twice the rates of higher paid workers</a>. It’s okay though – minimum wage workers won’t be able to afford a therapist to diagnose them anyway.</li><li><b>You are literally poorer than anyone else (since 1968). </b>The real cost of minimum wage has been decreasing since 1968. If wages rose with inflation, the federal minimum wage would be $10.56 per hour. In other words, when your parents flipped burgers at McDonalds, they were able to get 30 percent more for their money – <a href="http://www.cepr.net/documents/publications/min-wage1-2012-03.pdf">and probably did less than half the work</a>. But it’s not only you; <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2013/06/26/8-incredible-and-alarming-labor-force-statistics.aspx">all workers are suffering from wages depressed by inflation costs</a>. </li></ol>It can really stink to work in America. Maybe that’s why <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2013/06/24/pf/emergency-savings/">three-quarters of workers can’t afford to keep an emergency</a> fund.<ol></ol>

minimum wage poverty Top 4 reasons why minimum wage jobs lead to a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad life

The recent uproar over fast food and other minimum-wage workers has brought America’s attention to how much it sucks to be working at a mini...

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